Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization will clarify data on swine flu after media reports of a false pandemic hindered public health measures, India’s Health Secretary K. Sujatha Rao said.

Governments from the U.S. to Germany are curbing purchases of vaccine to fight the new H1N1 virus after cases declined and the first flu pandemic in 41 years appeared milder than initially feared. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe plans to debate the theme “Faked pandemics: a threat to health” at a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, next week.

At the United Nations agency’s executive board meeting in Geneva this week, Rao asked the WHO to explain media reports about a false pandemic, she said yesterday in a statement to India’s Press Information Bureau. Rao also called for greater transparency about terms and conditions on which international vaccine manufacturers were supplying the shots to countries, according to the statement.

“In response to this intervention by India, it was agreed that WHO would formally write to national focal points in all countries clarifying the factual position about the H1N1 pandemic to quell all doubts that had been created,” the statement said.

News reports were “adversely impacting upon the public health measures being undertaken by countries,” Rao said in the statement, without elaborating. Rao and Vineet Chawdhry, a joint secretary at India’s health ministry, weren’t immediately available for comment.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan acknowledged at the board meeting yesterday the need to support the agency’s member states, WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in an interview today.

“For me, the best health news of the previous decade is the fact that the long overdue influenza pandemic has been so moderate in its impact,” Chan told the meeting on Jan. 18. “I believe we would all rather see a moderate pandemic with ample supplies of vaccine than a severe pandemic with inadequate supplies of vaccine.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Gale in Singapore at j.gale@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 21, 2010 02:55 EST